600 acres return to Haudenosaunee care

ONCHIATA | In one of the largest private land return initiatives in what is now known as New York State, a forested 600-acre property is returning to Indigenous care. With assistance and funding from The Nature Conservancy, the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center (6NICC) purchased the land from Paul Smith's College for $1.1 million. The 6NICC, a nonprofit organization, will combine management of this land with 330 adjacent acres already under their care. The combined 900 acres will be managed according to Indigenous traditions and scientific ecological principles and will be home to an extension of the 6NICC, a Haudenosaunee gathering space, and an Indigenous youth camp. Indigenous Nations have always identified relationships with ancestral lands and waters as central to maintaining their distinct cultural identity. This return of 600 acres of land in Kanien'keháka (Mohawk) territory, the eastern door of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, recognizes and supports the centuries-long efforts of the Haudenosaunee to reconnect with their traditional territories. "Since time immemorial, the Haudenosaunee have lived in reciprocal relationship with these lands and waters," said Bill Ulfelder, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in New York. "This marks The Nature Conservancy in New York's first land return and demonstrates our commitment to expanding Indigenous access, care, and ownership of land. We are grateful to so many who made this wonderful opportunity possible." This project also builds on a legacy of promoting Indigenous access and care of lands, including the efforts of Ray Fadden, a schoolteacher at the Tuscarora Indian School and the Mohawk School in Akwesasne, who founded the 6NICC in 1954. Fadden's life's work to educate Indigenous communities and the public about Haudenosaunee history, culture, and contemporary realities is reflected in how the Cultural Center is directed today by his grandson, David Kanietakeron Fadden. "The land ethic of care and preservation has been a central part of the 6NICC's mission since its founding by Ray and Christine Fadden in 1954," said David Fadden, 6NICC director. "This acquisition of over 600 acres will serve as a classroom to share and learn Indigenous ecological knowledge for Native and non-Native students alike for generations into the future. The Haudenosaunee look to the seventh generation yet to come while we live our lives and make thoughtful decisions that ensure those who come after us will have clean air, water and land to live healthy lives. This philosophy is shared by the organizations that enabled this land transfer to take place and we are most grateful." The return of this land is a result of partnerships dedicated to advancing Indigenous-led conservation and cultural restoration and offers a model for how conservation organizations and private institutions can participate in that movement. This includes partnerships among the 6NICC, The Nature Conservancy, the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force (HETF), SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry's Center for Native Peoples and the Environment (CNPE), Paul Smith's College, the Akwesasne Seed Hub, the Adirondack Land Trust (ALT), and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC). "This historic return is an overdue step toward land justice and I'm deeply grateful for the shared commitments that make it possible," said Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author and founding director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, SUNY ESF. "Land and people will benefit by the revitalization of Indigenous-led land care. Reuniting Haudenosaunee youth with traditional homelands sows seeds for restoring intergenerational relationships to place. I'm so eager to witness the reunion of Indigenous people, knowledge and land." "The return of this land to Haudenosaunee care is a reflection of The Nature Conservancy's desire to be a respectful partner in Indigenous-led conservation," said Peg Olsen, director of the Adirondacks and Indigenous Partnerships Program, The Nature Conservancy in New York. "We are thrilled to be part of this collaborative effort to reconnect Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral lands and to bring Traditional Ecological Knowledge together with western science in support of the land's biocultural restoration." Located in Onchiota, N.Y., adjacent to the 6NICC, the property has been used as a seasonal camp/retreat center and as a site for teaching forest management practices. The 600 acres is 94 percent forested, mainly by northern hardwood forests comprised of red maple, yellow birch, and black cherry. John Thomas Brook, which supports native brook trout, flows through the wetlands and the land is bookended by Big Haystack Mountain and Buck Pond Hill. In addition to serving as an extension of the 6NICC, the camp will be a home for the Native Earth Program, which has been hosted by the CNPE and the HETF for 17 years. The program brings Indigenous high school students from across Turtle Island to the Adirondack region for community building, reconnecting with the Earth, and deepening skills for environmental leadership. While there are thousands of camps and other learning spaces dedicated to environmental education and outdoor recreation, there are few places in the United States dedicated to protecting Indigenous cultural practices and engaging traditional caretaking in support of ecological conservation and restoration. Funding for the Native Earth Program has been provided by a partnership between the NYSDEC and the CNPE and other philanthropic gifts. "I met Ray Tehanatorens Fadden, or 'He Splits the Pitch,' when I was six years old at his home in Onchiota. He was my grandfather's elementary school teacher and an ally to our people at a time when there were few. Through new alliances, we now have a permanent home for Native Earth — and a path back to the care of our ancestral lands. The Center is looking forward to bringing young folks back to Onchiota to 'split the pitch' of the pines on the old tracks of Tehanetorens," said Neil Patterson Jr., executive director, Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, SUNY ESF. "The Haudenosaunee welcome the opportunity to re-connect with the land where our ancestors once roamed," said the Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force. Paul Smith's College will explore opportunities for collaboration with the 6NICC focused on education, research, and student engagement. This builds on the College's respect for and encouragement of Indigenous presence in and around the College, which has recently included scholarship support for First Nations students, visible recognition of Indigenous place and sovereignty on campus, and a land acknowledgment developed collaboratively by Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of the college community. "This land has long been a place of learning. We are proud that its next chapter centers the leadership of the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center and the restoration of cultural and ecological relationships that far predate the College," said Paul Smith's College president Dan Kelting. "As an institution grounded in experiential education and environmental responsibility, we see this partnership as an opportunity to invite our students to learn alongside Indigenous knowledge holders while advancing shared goals of long-term stewardship." In 2022 the 6NICC secured 330 acres of forestland west of the Cultural Center in partnership with the ALT, providing room for a planned expansion to include land-based cultural and Traditional Ecological Knowledge programs and a visitor center designed by architect Ray Kinoshita Mann. Since then, the 6NICC and the ALT have been working on a first-of-its-kind-agreement that incorporates Haudenosaunee perspectives and Mohawk language into a conservation easement. The partners plan to extend this agreement to include these 600 acres. "We are grateful to be part of work that strengthens relationships between people, and between people and the land. We look forward to building on our shared values of caring for the lands and waters around us, and to learning, sharing, and trust-building in the years to come," said Chris Jage, Adirondack Land Trust conservation program director. The partnerships between these Indigenous and ally organizations are modeled on the living treaty of the Haudenosaunee Two Row Wampum Belt (Gaswéñdah). The belt contains two rows that represent a canoe for the Haudenosaunee way of life, laws, and people and a ship, which in 1613 represented the Dutch government, but in time has come to represent settler nations. The canoe and the ship travel down a river in parallel, bound together in their journey but also autonomous. It serves as a reminder to center sovereignty and uphold Indigenous Peoples' right to self-determination.

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